Speaking of diamonds, long long ago I was engaged to the wrong girl. I got the ring back, and, being in the service and short of cash, I took it back to the high end jewlery store where I bought it (paying much more than I could afford, they shamed me into it), hoping for some bucks. The same guy who sold it to me, looking down his nose, informed me that "we don't buy used diamonds." Then I went to a pawn shop. What they offered was a joke. So my daughter now has the set...
LOL.
It is always revealing to see a salesman, who was just a day before overflowing with assurances about how what he is selling such a grand investment and worth so much more than what he is charging, turn around and announce how much he will offer you to buy it back.
Like comparing how she looked last night with a belly full of beer to what she looks like in daylight. A ten last night turns into a four in the morning light.
The toy that looked so exciting on the TV. The one your kid claims he can't live without. The one 'all the other kids have'. It holds their attention for about ten minutes and then gets stuffed into the back of the closet. Where it resides until its final disposition in a garage sale or riding off to the dump.
Humans are easily influenced. The facts can be smeared through misrepresentation and selective addition of other facts or falsehoods. The criteria for judgment can be shifted. The thought process itself is subject to editing and revision. Advertising and marketing are billion dollar industries that wouldn't exist if this wasn't true. The same is true of political lobbying and the propaganda industries. All are in the business of 'shaping' perceived reality.
Nowhere is this more shockingly obvious than when you try to sell what you just bought. The fog of hype, enthusiasm and pretty pictures evaporate and the real value emerges. What you bought yesterday often goes for half that price today. Ouch.
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